Facebook warns users about other Cambridge Analytica-sized scandals
What's the story
Facebook is on the hunt for other Cambridge Analytica-sized scandals and has warned both users and investors about the same. In its quarterly report shared with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the social media giant said that it expects to discover and announce more "instances of misuse of data or other undesirable activity by third parties." Here's more.
Fallout
Despite high sales, Facebook still reeling from Cambridge Analytica fallout
Facebook's warning to its users and investors comes after Facebook's "strong start in 2018" which saw a 50% increase in sales, and a 13% increase in monthly active users. Zuckerberg has already faced questioning in US Congressional panels, and the warning could expose Facebook to regulatory risks, fines, and penalties. Notably, Facebook, finally, is providing a more detailed version of their "community standards" rulebook.
Community standards
The scandal has forced Facebook to be more transparent
Facebook has always had "community standards" but only a general, abridged version of it was publicly available. The social media giant, however, had a far more detailed internal rulebook to decide the deletion of individual posts. Following the scandal, the company has been forced to provide a longer document to clear up confusion and be more open about its operations.
Editorial responsibility
Facebook is finally having to face its editorial responsibility
Facebook's earlier ambiguous editorial responsibility allowed it to conceal reasons behind removal of content. Facebook has faced several allegations also. The company was accused of working for repressive regimes in removing anti-government content, and generally being shady about reasons for removal of content. The company had earlier shirked this responsibility by attributing it to algorithms, but the scandal has forced more transparency.
New policies
The new policies allow appeals against content removal
The new policies adopted following the Cambridge Analytica scandal will, for the first time, allow users to appeal to Facebook against taking down of pieces of individual content. Under the earlier policies, only the removal of accounts, groups, and pages could be appealed. Additionally, unlike earlier, Facebook is starting to provide more specific reasons for the removal of content.